Most of us will spend somewhere around 65% of our waking hours working. If work is not seen as a holy thing, if work is not counted as an essential aspect of our contribution to the mission of God, then no wonder our work isn’t fulfilling. No wonder it feels like toil. Work is one [Read More…]

I confess that when I was young many adults in my little world held MLK in deep suspicion. He was not considered a great man by them. I often heard statements like, “Once the FBI files on MLK are opened, the world will really see what he was like. And they won’t be celebrating him [Read More…]

I am an unabashed logophile (n. – lover of words). The English language is a tough one to master even for those of us who have been using it our whole life. For some this is merely frustrating. For others her idiosyncrasies make English fascinating and multifarious (adj. – ‘to having many parts; diverse and varied’). [Read More…]

The “liberal cause” is a pejorative colloquialism meant to signify an attempt to assist a person, group, or issue for whom those who are not liberal, or just don’t go in for causes, would consider helping to be silly, sentimental, or even morally wrong. Labeling things a “Liberal Cause” is something folks like Glenn Beck or Rush [Read More…]

I just waded through 10 minutes of Christian hate on Facebook and had to shut it down for the day. We are so jacked up. Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it [Read More…]

I ran across a video today of Wendell Berry reading a couple poems from his collection of poems called Leavings. I thought it looked familiar and realized that I was in the audience in Louisville, KY the evening this clip was filmed. It’s from the Louisville Institute Sabbatical Consultation in 2010. It was one of [Read More…]

Hope can be elusive. Nothing is more destabilizing to a person than when they reach for hope and it isn’t there. I think perhaps no work of art I’ve ever encountered captures the tenuous and precious strands that keep us tethered to hope like Shawshank does. I learned from it – from this last scene [Read More…]

I confess that we finally took down our Christmas tree and decorations this weekend. I confess that every year we seem to be one of the last in our neighborhood putting them up, and the last taking them down. I confess that once I do take down the decorations, I give myself silent permission to [Read More…]

After reading Tyler Hamilton’s gripping memoir about professional cycling and life with Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France, I wrote a post last week that included my favorite quote from the book. While talking about the power of a secret, its ability to bond people, then destroy those bonds, Tyler Hamilton wrote: “…secrets are [Read More…]

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane, you’ve probably wondered what the real deal is on no phone or electronic device usage during take off and landing. This video debunks the myth that it could be a problem. The most interesting details to me are: 1) pilots use ipads and wifi in the cockpit. 2) [Read More…]